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I. C A S E V CUTTING APPARATUS FOR MOWING OR REAPING MACHINES. No. 499,967. Patented June 20, 1893. J w 1 l V .1 \mm l filll 1.1 Imm"mm"!||||||||||l|||||l||ll||||l|||IE5l|l|lIllllll|llllllllllllllllllllmidfllillllllllllmlulllllulummummnunmmgl gmmumuui m W553i" lllmiazimll v W ATTORINEY as uonms PETERS cu. Pmwoumo" wxsamaron, u. 0.,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRA CASE, OF .SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, AsSIeNoR oE ONE-FOURTH TO ARTHUR H. SWARTHOUT, or SAME PLACE.

CUTTING APPARATUS FOR MOWING OR REAPING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters IPatent N0. 499,967, ClatedJune 20, 1893.

Application filed March 21, 1892. Serial No. 425,695. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA CASE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Cutting Apparatus for Mowing or Reaping Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference markedthereon, which form apart of this specibar, travels to the other end, with great velocity when in actual use. Here it must come to a dead stop before it can return over the same track. It requires a great deal of force to stop it, and then it must be set in motion again from a dead stop. The power employed in stopping it is necessarily lost so far as the result accomplished by the machine is concerned; and there is also a loss in power in having to start the sickle from its inertia at each end of the throw. It is evident that any mechanism that will save this lost power will be valuable.

This I claim to do in a great measure in the following described supporting bar and sickle.

Figure 1, isa top view of my device. Fig. 2, is a top View of my device showing sickle in different position. Fig. 3, is a enlarged top view of the connection and elliptic groove. Fig. 4, is a side view of the fulcrum connection.

A is the sickle, and is of usual construction except that I use a longer knife.

B is the supporting bar, provided with the usual guards, 13, except that they are set differently. The front edge of the barB is somewhat concave, and the guards Bf are set on this edge but at right anglesto an imaginary horizontal line drawn through the middle of the bar. This causes the points of the guards to have the same concave appearance, and as the sickle, unless it is given acirculinear motion, will not enter the guards at each end, I give the sickle this said circulinear motion. In each end of the bar, B, I form elliptic grooves 1, 4. The ellipse is rather elongated or flattened at its sides, the end curves being more abrupt. The length of the ellipse should be the distance from the center of one guard to the center of the other. In these grooves I place rollers, 2, 2, secured to the pin 2' 2, and these pins are secured in each end of the sickle A. I then adjust the sickle so that the roller at one end thereof will be on the front side of the ellipse 1, and the knives on the sickle will engage the guards, B, at that end, and the other roller, at the other end, in the rear side of the ellipse t with the knives out of the guards.

Upon the sickle A, at its center I form a longitudinal lug A, the length of the lug being about the length of the ellipse, 1. And at the center of the bar B, I secure the catch, 3, for engaging this lug A, when the middle of the sickle has been placed in cutting position with the middle guards B. Moving the sickle will cause the knives at the forward end to move through the guards from center to center, or until the rollers, 2, 2, have traveled the length of the sides of the ellipses 1, 4, when, if the power is continued the forward endwill drop around the curved end of the ellipse and the other end advance through the curved end of the other ellipse, bringing the knives at that end into cut-ting position. The center of the sickle by reason of its being fulcrumed at A, will keep between the guards.

B, B", are raised ribs on the barB to support the sickle A and keep it from vibrating. The only friction there will be in the revolution of the sickle will be on the ribs B" and the grooves, 1, 4. By'using the roller 2, in each groove the friction there will be greatly lessened.

E is the pitman connecting the sickle to the crank disk D by means of the jointF and the pin D.

E is an oblong slot in which the pin D moves and allows a free movement of the rod E as the crank disk and sickle revolve together,one circularly and the other elliptically.

C is the cover hinged to the barB at O, C, and adapted to turn over upon the sickle and guards to the cutting point thus preventing anything from getting into the knives or guards to clog them.

It'will be observed that about two-thirds of the sickle is brought into cutting position at each revolution of the sickle and that the ends of the sickle out but one way, and each the opposite of the other, but that the middle of the sickle cuts both ways. The number of revolutions that can be obtained by this motion makes it unnecessary for the sickle to out both ways. It will do all required of it operating as described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to obtain by Letters Patent therefor, is-- 1. A mowing machine cutting apparatus, comprisinga supporting bar carrying guard fingers, elliptical grooves at each end of the bar, a sickle working in the guards and loosely fulcrumed at its center to the bar, the fulcrum catch, and pins on the under side of each end of the sickle adapted to move in the elliptical grooves, substantially as described.

2. A mowing machine cutting apparatus comprising a supporting bar, guard fingers, sickle, elliptical grooves in the supporting bar under each end of the sickle, a friction roller attached to each end of the sickle andvworking in the said grooves,afulcru1n catch at the middle of the bar and sickle, loosely fulcruming the sickle at its middle whereby as one end of the sickle advances in its groove the other recedes, and means for operating the sickle substantially as described.

8. A mowing machine cutting apparatus consisting of a supporting bar carrying guard fingers, a sickle loosely fulcrumed at its middle to the middle of thesupporting bar, and

the rigid pitman secured to. one end of the sickle at one end and to a horizontal crank disk at the other, substantially as described. 4. A mowing machine cutting apparatus, consisting of the bar B having its front edge concave and the guards B set on the same line as thefront of the bar B, but at right angles to a straight line drawn through the said bar, and elliptical grooves, 1, 4, at each end of the bar, B, and sickle, A, having pins 2', a

2', at each endbearing rollers 2, 2, running in the grooves 1, ,4, and having the lug A, at center of the sickle, and catch .3, for fulcruming the sickle,'all arranged and operated; substantially as described.

5. A mowing machine cutting apparatus comprising a supportingbar carryingguards,

elliptical grooves formed on bed of the sup porting bar, friction rollers traveling in said grooves and carrying a sickle, a sickle loosely fulcrumed at its middle tothe supportingbar,

and a covering for the sickle and bar to the base of the guard fingers substantially as described. t

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

inn CASE.

Witnessesi GEORGE A. MCLAUDRESS, A. H. SWARTHOUT. 

